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Sunday, April 23, 2017

Yoyogi
Park is one of Tokyo’s largest parks, and is located in Shibuya and next to
the Harajuku Station.The park has tons
of trees, lawns, and ponds.It was very
peaceful when we went here in the morning.We saw plenty of locals doing exercise and jogging.In the autumn, the park is known for its
ginko tree forest where all the leaves turn gold.In the springtime during cherry blossom
season (sakura),
there are nice places to view cherry trees.

We purposely did
not want to travel during sakura because it is peak travel season and places would
be too crowded for our liking.On our
visit to Yoyogi Park during the winter season, the trees were pretty barren
without leaves.Yet the views of the
trees were still very beautiful.We
enjoyed a quiet and peaceful walk through the park.

Meiji Shrine

Our next stop was Meiji
Shrine, a shrine dedicated to Emperor Meiji. The shrine was completed in
1920, destroyed during World War II, and then rebuilt again afterwards.The main complex is about a 10-minute walk
from the entrance near Harajuku Station.There is no admission fee to enter the forest and shrine, although there
are few gardens that can be explored on the grounds that require admission to
enter.

To enter the
shrine grounds, guests walk under massive tori gates.These gates are really humongous and very
impressive to look at.

This transforms
the environment from a bustling city into a quiet forest.There are about 120,000 trees in the 170-acre
forest.While there were plenty of
crowds visiting, we still felt relaxed being surrounded by the tall trees.

The walking paths
have small stone pebbles.

Along the way
we walked by hundreds of barrels of sake donated to the shrine.

We arrived at the
shrine just in time to witness a traditional Japanese wedding.

Harajuku

The Harajuku neighborhood is full of trendy fashion, unique boutique shopping, cafes, and plenty of restaurants. We walked through some interesting shops on our way to get food. For lunch we were
craving Japanese style tonkatsu, a type of Japanese food made of breaded and
deep fried pork cutlet.It is usually
served with white rice, shredded cabbage and miso soup.We found Tonkatsu
Maisen on Yelp, and it was highly rated.Located in Harajuku and a 15-minute walk from the Harajuku Station.

At Tonkatsu
Maisen, they serve different cuts of pork loin and fillets of varying levels of
fat. The fatter portions of pork were
more expensive.I had the kurobuta pork
(recommended by our waiter) and it was melt in your mouth delicious.

Although the pork was deep fried, it did not taste
greasy at all. The pork was perfectly
breaded and crispy on the outside while remaining juicy and tender inside.

The thick tonkatsu sauce was rich and
flavorful.My wife had the hamburger steak, which was
very moist and flavorful.The food
portions were perfect. Our son loved
sharing food with us.Come early because
the line gets long quickly.

Tokyu Honten
Department Store
After our first full day of walking around Japan, we discovered that our son’s
shoes were now too tight for his feet.He
is growing so fast and seemed like his feet grew bigger overnight.With Shibuya and Harajuku being one of the
most trendy fashion districts in Japan, we thought it would be easy to find a
place that sold shoes for children.Boy,
were we wrong.We went to visit several
different malls, department stores, and brand name stores (Nike, Adidas, etc)
but found that they did not carry children’s shoes.

After doing some
Google searches, I found out about the Tokyu Honten
Department Store.Luckily, this mall
was a short walk from our Airbnb.This
huge 8-floor (plus roof floor and basement floor) department store had
everything you could possibly want in a store, from restaurants to bookstores
to pet grooming.

We were excited to see
that the 6th floor was completely dedicated to babies and children!We browsed different toy stores, clothing
shops, and shoe stores.We were able to
find our son a nice pair of proper fitting comfortable shoes (albeit a little
pricey).

On our way home, we
had dinner at Paku
Mori, a tasty curry restaurant.Although
the sign for the restaurant is on the street, it can be easy to miss because it
looks just like a random advertisement.The actually restaurant is one floor down a flight of stairs.

I had the delicious
chicken karaage curry.The chicken
pieces were crispy on the outside and moist on the inside.

My wife enjoyed her vegetable curry. It was full of flavor and very tasty.

After another full
day of walking, we were exhausted and ready to sleep.